Alcohol's Role in Work-Force Entry and Retirement.

Employment and drinking behavior interact in intriguing ways both upon entrance to and departure from the labor force. Teenagers who work are more likely to drink than their unemployed peers, possibly offsetting the expected advantages of gaining early job experience. For young people in general, early heavy drinking can curtail continuing education and stifle opportunities for career advancement. At the opposite end of the age spectrum, some retirees may turn to alcohol to fill leisure time and cope with the stresses associated with retirement as a major life change. Other retirees, however, may cut back on drinking once they are freed from job-related stress, leave a work environment that encourages alcohol use, or experience financial constraints. Although tolerance to alcohol's effects wanes with advancing age, older adults who remain employed are more apt than retirees to drink heavily. Alternatively, older workers may decide to restrict their drinking to keep pace with younger colleagues.

T he study of drinking behavior potential for competitive stress, fail this article narrows its focus to exam as it relates to work roles over a ure, or downward mobility from the ine two particular groups of people: person's life span offers re "pinnacles of success." Although no those entering and those leaving em searchers exciting possibilities as well indepth examination of drinking be ployment roles. as special challenges. Most alcohol havior across occupational careers related literature is based on data meas has been undertaken to date, alcohol ured at a single point in time (i.e., researchers are reasonably confident THREE GENERAL OBSERVATIONS crosssectional data). As a result, this that work and alcohol consumption research inadvertently presents a static can be linked on a variety of levels As time passes during adulthood, three portrait of the links between alcohol (Roman 1990;Vaillant 1995). noted phenomena can impact drinking problems and psychosocial character This article describes recent re behavior: (1) drinking problems 1 fre istics, such as depression and stress.
search on employment and drinking quently are resolved without serious For a more complete picture, studies at selected life stages. A discussion crises or outside assistance, (2) toler must be designed to follow the lives covering the full breadth of data on ance for alcohol's effects decreases, and drinking careers of people who drinking and various adult life passages have workrelated psychosocial expe would be well beyond the article's PAUL M. ROMAN

Simple Resolution of Drinking Problems
Epidemiological data clearly show that a substantial proportion of drink ing problems apparently are resolved without major crises, interventions, or treatment (i.e., the problems resolve themselves by "spontaneous remis sion") (Tuchfeld 1981). Data also in dicate that 15.4 percent of Americans who consume alcohol have a drinking problem 1 at some point in their lives and that these problems primarily occur during adulthood (Robins and Regier 1990). Given that work roles are central to the lives of many, if not most, adult Americans, both the ori gin and diminution of alcohol prob lems are likely to be work related for some people. Conversely, as Mullahy and Sindelar (1989 so effectively argue in their research, alcohol problems may significantly affect a person's occupational oppor tunities. The following discussion addresses both views of the alcohol work relationship. In an early observation, Roman and Trice (1970) noted a probable association between job changes and either the alleviation or exacerbation of alcohol problems. For example, a person with an incipient drinking problem in a highstress occupation may seek a less stressful job as a means of alleviating both dilemmas. Conversely, some people may seek employment changes that enhance their opportunities to drink. Janes' (1990, 1992) research in the area of occupational drinking subcul tures suggests that certain occupations are more conducive to and accepting of workplace drinking (e.g., jobs in which stress levels are high, tasks are 1 The exact definition of terms such as "drink ing problems," "alcoholism," and "alcohol abuse" can vary considerably across studies. Readers are encouraged to consult the original source for precise definitions as appropriate. repetitious and boring, or work is performed alone or under little super vision). Given this tolerance of drink ing found in some work cultures, it seems likely that people with alcohol problems might seek occupations in which drinking behavior is relatively easy to hide or in which coworkers promote (or at least accept) deviant drinking behavior (Roman et al. 1992). Practically nothing is known about these dynamics, although they clearly exist by inference.

Effects of the Aging Process
The process of aging is strongly asso ciated with what appears to be the alleviation or resolution of drinking problems (Mirand and Welte 1996). Many people apparently "age out" of patterns of excessive or problematic drinking, and this occurrence often is attributed to a decreased tolerance for alcohol as a result of the aging proc ess. Frequently, older adults experi ence a compromised ability to cope with alcohol's effects for physiologi cal reasons, such as a lower water content in the body and a reduced lean body mass (Finney and Moos 1984;Mertens et al. 1996). In addi tion, the health and medical problems that often plague older adults may be aggravated by even moderate levels of alcohol consumption. Such de creased physiological ability to han dle the effects of drinking reflects an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) expres sion that associates the decision to seek sobriety with "being sick and tired of being sick and tired." This phrase clearly applies to a broader population than AA participants alone, however.
Along with the physiological as pects of aging, psychosocial elements may be equally important influences on drinking behavior and may have a direct effect on work performance. Older workers, keenly aware of their need to "keep up," may intentionally make lifestyle changes, such as re ducing or quitting drinking, in an ef fort to maintain skill and productivity on the job (Roman 1990). Such re sponses probably vary, though, de pending on the competitiveness of the job circumstances as well as the scope of alternative opportunities.

Diminished Social Roles
Besides spontaneous remission and decreased alcohol tolerance, the third phenomenon of interest is related to the concept of "role shrinkage," an idea developed by an industrial clini cal psychologist specializing in treat ment of executives with alcohol problems (P. A. Sherman, personal communication, April 1996). The idea is based on the oncecontroversial sociological concept of "disengage ment" developed in social gerontology (Cumming and Henry 1961). Accord ing to this theory, a person narrows the scope of his or her social participation with advancing age. Society's social expectations for this age group also usually decline and are evidenced by retirement, the "empty nest" syndrome, and agesegregated residential patterns. Disengaging from life roles related to work or parenting, for example, may be both socially expected and physio logically determined, but gerontologists tend to find such disengagement so cially defeating for older people, who may become withdrawn and isolated as a result (Reitzes et al. 1995).
Although not yet fully docu mented, excessive drinkers (even those considerably younger than retirement age) may deliberately choose role shrinkage. Through a pattern of "false disengagement," they may restrict their activities to a smaller number of tasks that they can continue to per form well in an attempt to cover up for excessive, deviant, or damaging drinking behavior. This theory is based on the premise that alcohol use can adversely affect job performance, which in turn can make problematic drinking behavior visible, especially in interaction with the aging process.
Despite patterns of excessive drinking, some people may be able to maintain excellence in workrole performance for an extended period (Knapp 1996). Eventually, however, these patterns exact a toll and motivate the person toward role shrinkage. In such cases, changes in work perform ance may be subtle, making it diffi cult for observers to detect any patterns of deterioration. More important, re searchers must endeavor to distinguish alcoholassociated effects, which are po tentially reversible, from ageassociated ones, which are less likely to change.

ASSESSING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ALCOHOL AND WORK AT DIFFERENT LIFE STAGES
To integrate the findings discussed in the following sections, data from two prominent national surveys were analyzed. First, the National House hold Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) was used to examine the youthful end of the age spectrum (see table 1). The National Institute on Drug Abuse con ducts this survey annually to measure the prevalence and correlates of drug use in the United States with a na tionally representative sample. The NHSDA gathers information on the use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco from members of the U.S. household population ages 12 and older. 2 Second, the Americans' Changing Lives (ACL) survey, conducted by the Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan, was used to consider patterns among older adults (see table 2). The ACL gathered in 2 To improve the validity of the results, a con fidential, anonymous questionnaire is adminis tered within each respondent's household. For drugrelated and other potentially threatening questions, the respondent is allowed to use selfenumerated answer sheets. Each NHSDA includes an oversample of young people, min orities, and the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Our analyses are based on the 1988 NHSDA, which contained a sample size of 7,249 respondents. To assess the drinking patterns in these two surveys, a scale was con structed similar to that developed by Cahalan and Cisin (1968). 4 Respon dents were classified into one of five general quantityfrequency drinking groups: abstainers, infrequent drinkers, light drinkers, moderate drinkers, and heavy drinkers. Abstainers were those who consumed alcohol less than once per year or not at all. Infrequent drink ers were those who had not had a drink containing alcohol in the past 30 days. Light drinkers consumed alcohol at least once per month, typically with no more than one or two drinks on any occasion. Moderate drinkers consumed alcohol at least once per month (typi cally several times per month), with no more than three or four drinks per 3 The ACL survey includes an oversample of blacks and adults age 60 and older. In 1986 a total of 3,617 respondents were interviewed in person. The response rate was 70 percent; non response did not vary substantially by age, race, or other sociodemographic characteristics. 4 The ACL and NHSDA contain identical ques tions for measuring the frequency and quantity of alcohol use among respondents. The question measuring frequency asks: "During the past 30 days, on about how many different days did you have one or more drinks?" The question for assessing quantity asks: "On the days that you drank in the past 30 days, about how many drinks did you usually have in a day?" drinking occasion. Heavy drinkers consumed alcohol nearly every day, with five or more drinks in a single sitting at least occasionally, or they consumed alcohol at least weekly, with five or more drinks on most drinking occasions. 5 Data from these two surveys supple ment the findings of other researchers discussed in the following sections.

ALCOHOL, EMPLOYMENT, AND TEENAGERS AND YOUNG ADULTS
Although it is illegal for high school and nearly all college students (i.e., those younger than age 21) to purchase and consume alcoholic beverages, re search indicates that almost everyone in this age group reports some experi ence with alcohol (Johnston et al. 1992). Furthermore, approximately 30 percent of high school seniors and 43 percent of college students report occasions of heavy drinking 6 (Johnston 5 These classifications are based on Cahalan and Cisin's (1968) principle that people who con sume larger amounts of alcoholic beverages when drinking should receive a heavier drink ing classification than those drinking about the same volume but in small quantities over a longer period. Cahalan and Cisin (1968) argue that it is unlikely that those who do not drink as many as five drinks on any occasion would become intoxicated or have serious drinking related problems. 6 Here, occasions of heavy drinking are meas ured by the percentage of respondents report ing five or more drinks in a row at least once in the prior 2week period.  . 1992). The potential impact of alcohol abuse on careers is perhaps greatest for teenagers and young adults, because alcohol problems developing at these young ages can adversely affect the person's future work for years to come (Mullahy and Sindelar 1994). Sindelar (1994, 1989) found that people experiencing alcohol problems at age 18 or younger generally were less educated, less likely to have whitecollar jobs, and more likely to have lower incomes than their counterparts not experienc ing alcohol problems. The reduced likelihood of having a whitecollar job was even more pronounced when the onset of alcohol problems oc curred between the ages of 19 and 22 (Mullahy and Sindelar 1989). These findings were based on data from respondents ages 25 to 64, an age range deliberately chosen so that the outcomes would reflect the responses of subjects most likely to have com pleted their education yet not likely to have retired from the labor force.
In searching for variables that could predict the likelihood of a young adult's being in the work force or in school, Sanford and colleagues (1994) found that the strongest pre dictors of being either out of school or unemployed were low family in come and heavy substance use. Of the four groups in the study (i.e., attend ing school, employed full time, em ployed part time, and unemployed), the unemployed group was found to have the highest rates of substance use and other predictor variables, such as low family income, low maternal ed ucation, and remedial education. Like Mullahy and Sindelar, Sanford and colleagues (1994) argued that the early onset of alcohol and other drug abuse "propel[s] a child along pathways toward negative work force outcome" (p. 1044).
Interestingly, Sindelar (1989, 1992) found that young adults with alcohol problems initially ap peared to earn higher wages than young adults without drinking prob lems. This discrepancy may reflect Sanford and colleagues' (1994) finding that nonalcoholics in this age group were more likely to be in school. Thus, young adults with alcohol prob lems may have more experience in the labor market and work more hours than their counterparts without drink ing problems (Mullahy and Sindelar 1992). However, as time passes and those without drinking problems leave school and gain work experience, the nonalcoholics' salaries are likely to catch up to and surpass the income of young adults with alcohol problems. Mullahy and Sindelar (1992) note that the higher incomes found initially among the problemdrinking young adults do not imply that these young adults were better off than their age peers without alcohol problems. Given what is known about jobassociated ed ucational requirements, many of these young problem drinkers clearly were in occupations that offered few long term rewards and virtually no chance for advancement (e.g., assemblyline, construction, or sanitation work). Oc cupations such as these are attractive, however, because of their immediate rewards, and significant time may pass before workers in these jobs realize the "downsides" of the occupation.
Any discussion of alcohol's role in the career potential of young adults cannot ignore the vast research atten tion given to drinking among college students. Researchers repeatedly have replicated findings that college students tend to binge drink, drink heavily, and drink dangerously. Furthermore, data show that college students drink more than their age peers who are not at tending college (Johnston et al. 1992). A host of additional variables must be considered when analyzing collegiate drinking and when forming predic tions of whether these patterns will persist through the postcollege years; for example, the affiliations students acquire while attending college may be important influences. Despite the adverse consequences associated with drinking by college students, most students who drink will graduate and, consequently, reap the jobmarket rewards and advantages associated with a college degree.
The effects of teen employment on alcohol use and abuse constitute a different set of issues. The impor tance of the work ethic in American culture tends to encourage youthful employment and behaviors that may be seen as precursors for adult careers. However, employment is strongly correlated with alcohol use and abuse among teenagers (Steinberg et al. 1993;Steinberg and Dornbusch 1991). Steinberg and colleagues (1993) found that previously unemployed teenagers who were employed at the 1year fol lowup were using alcohol and other drugs (AOD's) significantly more often than their counterparts who had remained unemployed. Furthermore, as the number of work hours increased, teenagers reported higher rates of AOD use (Steinberg and Dornbusch 1991). Steinberg and colleagues (1993) also found that employed teenagers were more likely to report patterns of heavy alcohol consumption. These findings complement the research of Sanford and colleagues (1994) and Sindelar (1989, 1991) discussed previously.
Taking these findings one step fur ther, employed teenagers who subse quently experience the early onset of drinking problems may be less likely to continue their education beyond high school. This implication seems to be supported by the research on young adults conducted by both Sanford and colleagues (1994) and Sindelar (1989, 1991). Sanford and colleagues (1994) found that young people engaged in heavy substance use were significantly less likely to be in school; similarly, Sindelar (1989, 1991) found that early onset of alcohol problems was corre lated with lower levels of education. Furthermore, as the findings of Sanford and colleagues (1994) appear to sup port, teenagers who experience an early onset of drinking problems may find themselves unemployed as young adults if they have been unable to control their drinking. Unfortunately, confirmation of these implications would require the use of longitudinal data following both employed and unemployed teenagers for at least a decade, and such data do not exist.
Although none of the cited find ings on the alcoholemployment rela tionship among young people is based on data from a nationally representa tive sample, our analysis of the 1988 NHSDA data provides some verifica tion on a national level. As table 1 illustrates, 15 to 17yearold em ployed males (p < 0.01) and females (p < 0.001) are significantly more likely to be classified as heavy or mod erate drinkers than their unemployed counterparts. In contrast, unemployed male and female teenagers are more likely to report being abstainers.
These findings appear to contradict the popular conception that teen em ployment outside the home instills discipline and responsibility. Instead, these findings suggest that employed teenagers are more highly involved in AOD use than their unemployed peers and that such involvement seems to in crease as work hours increase. Stein berg and Dornbusch (1991) offer three possible explanations for this discrepancy: (1) workers have more discretionary income to use for pur chasing alcohol, (2) workers experi ence more stress than nonworkers and consequently turn to alcohol as a means of coping with this additional stress, and (3) workers encounter older adolescents and young adults in the workplace who expose them to drinking activities.
Unfortunately, the majority of studies in this area, including the research conducted by Mullahy and Sindelar, have relied on crosssectional data and, as such, provide a limited picture of the alcoholemployment relationship. Consequently, it is diffi Some workplace environments serve to develop and maintain heavy drinking practices.
cult to specify a causal direction for the alcoholemployment relationship among teenagers and young adults. It seems logical, however, that the rela tionship could be bidirectional. Based on any of the reasons suggested by Steinberg and Dornbusch, teen em ployment could lead to increases in alcohol consumption. In turn, those teenagers and young adults who en gage in heavy alcohol use or abuse may be less likely to either continue in school or obtain a whitecollar job.
As a result, some of these young problem drinkers may become locked into the lower class, a hypothesis supported by Vaillant (1995). His longitudinal research found that al though most lower class boys could improve their socioeconomic status as adults, those boys with low intelli gence, psychiatric disorders, alcohol dependence, or a combination of such factors were found in the lower class as adults regardless of their original socioeconomic background. (For further information, see the article by Vaillant, beginning on p. 152.)

ALCOHOL, EMPLOYMENT, AND OLDER ADULTS
As American society prepares to enter the new millennium, issues relating to older adults continue to gain increas ing prominence. Current projections estimate a dramatic increase in the number of Americans over age 65 in the coming decades, from 39.4 mil lion in 2010 (13.2 percent of the total population) to 69.4 million in 2030 (20 percent of the total population) (Day 1996). In light of the aging population, debate over medicare un doubtedly will be a major political issue well into the 21st century, per haps leading to heightened tensions between different age groups in the population. With the health care situ ation of millions of people possibly in the balance, it is more crucial than ever to explore the extent and causes of alcohol abuse among the older American population.
In considering the effects of alco hol use and abuse among older adults, several inherent factors contribute to an overall decrease in alcohol con sumption among this population. First, adults age 60 or older are unlikely to be heavy drinkers, simply because the heaviest drinkers tend to succumb at an earlier age from physical complica tions, accidents, or other injuries relat ed to excessive alcohol consumption (Mirand and Welte 1996;Mertens et al. 1996). Also, as previously discussed, the aging process results in decreased physical tolerance for alcohol's effects during and after drinking episodes, leading to reduced consumption (also see the article by Brennan, beginning on p. 197).
Much speculation but sparse facts exist regarding the effects of occupa tional retirement on alcohol consump tion. For many people, retirement may be a particularly stressful period in which they experience a loss of status, boredom, depression, loss of self esteem, or general discordance as to what their roles are as members of so ciety (Ekerdt et al. 1989). Researchers conjecture that retirees turn to alcohol to help them cope with this stress (Ekerdt et al. 1989;Finney and Moos 1984). In addition, researchers specu late that older men may be more at risk for such stressrelated alcohol abuse than older women, because men, particularly the current generation of retirees, tend to be more highly inte grated into the labor force and are more likely to hold highstatus man agerial jobs. At retirement, this status loss may be especially difficult for men to accept.
In addition to increased stress, the retiree has more leisure time in which to consume alcohol. With few role constraints or social obligations, the retiree may consume alcohol with greatly reduced risks of adverse social consequences (Ekerdt et al. 1989). Because men report higher levels of alcohol consumption than women throughout life (Cahalan and Cisin 1968), leisurerelated alcohol con sumption associated with retirement also may occur more frequently among men than women.
Living arrangements also may influence the drinking behavior of retirees. A survey conducted by Alexander and Duff (1988) revealed that drinking was more common among residents of retirement com munities than among their age peers in the general population. Further more, a strong relationship was found between alcohol use and greater so cial interaction. Widespread social drinking appeared to be an integral part of the leisure subculture in these communities; several survey respon dents even said that residents feel they must drink to be accepted in some community groups (Alexander and Duff 1988).
In the Normative Aging Study, Ekerdt and colleagues (1989) attempted to address the effects of retirement on alcohol consumption systematically by assessing pre and postretirement changes in male retirees' drinking behaviors. The group of retirees was then compared with a similar group of age peers who continued to work. Although the study data were based on a small sample size and a single geographical location, Ekerdt and colleagues (1989) found that retirement was not associated with a change in average alcohol consumption. They did find, however, that retirees showed greater variability over time in con sumption levels: A number of retirees reported heavy drinking patterns, whereas others reported the cessation of heavy drinking and its related problems. Finally, retirees were more likely than their employed age peers to report the onset of periodic heavier drinking and drinking problems.
In contrast, other researchers sug gest that a significant decrease occurs in the level of alcohol consumption as people approach retirement age (Barnes 1979;Gurnack and Thomas 1989).
This decline may be attributed to a number of factors. Retirement may eliminate the job stress that can be correlated with heavy drinking; retire ment also may remove people from workplace subcultures in which heavy drinking had been not only acceptable but encouraged. Ames and Janes (1990) found that some work place environments and workrelated social networks serve to develop and maintain heavydrinking practices. After leaving such an environment, retirees may reduce their alcohol con sumption levels substantially. For many older adults, another possible contrib utor to the decline in alcohol con sumption is reduced income during retirement, which financially may limit their access to alcoholic beverages. Barnes (1979) strongly argues that retirement is not related to an increase in heavy drinking. She found that adults over age 60 who were still employed were twice as likely to be heavy drinkers as those who were unemployed or retired. This finding is supported by Mullahy and Sindelar (1991), who observed that alcohol abusers tended to remain in the labor force longer than nonalcoholics. The researchers reasoned that workers without alcohol problems are able to accrue greater wealth and larger pen sions than alcoholics and therefore may retire, whereas alcoholics must continue to work.
The data in table 2 further support Barnes' (1979) findings. Although Barnes (1979) found that among the younger workers (i.e., those ages 18 to 49 and 50 to 59), the unemployed subjects were significantly more likely to be heavy drinkers than their employed counterparts, the case for older adults was precisely the oppo site. Likewise, table 2 shows that the employed males (p < 0.001) and fe males (p < 0.05) over age 60 were significantly more likely than their unemployed (i.e., retired) peers to be classified as heavy or moderate drinkers, whereas the unemployed males and females were more likely to be classified as abstainers. Al though only replicating Barnes' study, these data and findings broaden its generalizability with a nationally representative sample.
In summary, stress and additional leisure time associated with retire ment may adversely affect some older people by increasing their alcohol consumption to an abusive level, but the extent of such a pattern may not be large. Only Ekerdt and colleagues (1989) and Alexander and Duff (1988) found that retirees are likely to experi ence the onset of periodic heavy drink ing. Gurnack and Hoffman (1992) attribute abusive drinking among re tirees to a history of alcohol abuse, not to agerelated stress. Barnes' (1979) research, as well as our own analysis, shows that employed older adults, rather than retirees, are more likely to report high levels of alcohol consumption.
Most of the current literature suf fers, however, from the following basic weaknesses: a small sample size, a single geographic location, or both (Gurnack and Thomas 1989). Further more, the majority of these studies only speculate as to the causes of alcohol abuse among older adults rather than provide databased analy ses. Because of the limitations of the data in these studies, it is therefore premature to conclude that a relation ship does not exist between retirement and alcohol abuse among the older adult population.

CONCLUSION
This brief foray into the research lit erature demonstrates the potential richness of the threeway connections among drinking, employment, and the life cycle. From a public policy per spective, it is disturbing that em ployment among teenagers may be adversely associated both with drink ing behavior and with other behaviors that can hinder positive growth during late adolescence. A heritage of suc cessful social activism protecting children from abuses in the workplace segregates youth in American society from participation in work roles. How ever, opportunities for adolescent involvement in the work force are viewed positively and are culturally encouraged. Thus, it is additionally troubling to find that these opportuni ties are not necessarily a gateway to upward occupational mobility over the life span as expected but, in fact, potentially the opposite. From the available data, it appears possible that experiences in at least some teen employment settings (e.g., fast food or retail settings) may set a persistent pattern that limits opportunities for growth and advancement. Further re search is needed, however, to address the reasons why teenagers enter em ployment and how these reasons may put them at risk for potential prob lems with alcohol.
Findings about the job choices of young adults who are problem drinkers offer broad illustrations of the inter mingling of life course, employment, and drinking variables. Frequently, the deadend jobs in which these em ployees find themselves are highly routinized and have minimal cogni tive demands. Consequently, exces sive drinking off the job or even on the job may not interfere with work performance. In addition, because youthful workers are better able to compensate for the adverse effects of hangovers than are their older co workers, blocked career mobility may not be realized until much later.
Generalizations about drinking among retirementage adults are con siderably more difficult. It is likely that much depends on the nature of the job, its fit with the person's physical capabilities, and the person's motiva tion to continue working. For many reasons, retirement is a loss and disap pointment for some workers, whereas it is a release and a reward for others. Likewise, work settings vary greatly in their treatment of older workers: In some workplaces, older employees are considered wise mentors, but in other situations, they may be viewed as holding choice positions deserved by younger employees.
As "baby boomers" approach re tirement age, their drinking behavior during the later employment and re tirement years could assume consider able policy significance. For example, if freedom to enjoy an economically secure retirement is curbed (e.g., be cause drinking behavior has locked a worker into a lowpaying, deadend job), older adults may delay retire ment to continue earning an income. Such a scenario might trigger resent ment among younger employees who expect advancement opportunities when their older coworkers retire. Meanwhile, to confirm that they are indeed capable of continued job per formance, employed older drinkers may reduce their alcohol consump tion and contribute to an overall de cline in drinking among older adults. Conversely, retirees who are segre gated from the working population and equipped with adequate economic resources actually may facilitate the growth of drinkingoriented subcul tures if society fails to promote widely available activities that are meaning ful alternatives to work. ■